I send you this message from the President with even more pleasure than usual as AEO concludes its participation in Women’s History Month. This year marked the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day and as I did last year, I spent a good part of the day at the 2011 International Women of Courage Awards hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with special guest First Lady Michelle Obama. The award recognized ten truly heroic women who work to advance freedom, equality, …

Given that our Nation’s unemployment rate is currently hovering around 9%, that I’m writing about the case for supporting training opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals seems almost laughable. Maybe you think Washington’s Cherry Blossoms and springtime pollen cloud have gotten to me.

Small businesses have generated 64% of all net new jobs over the past 15 years. Small businesses employ more than half of our Nation’s private workforce. There is little doubt that …

This week for Women’s Wednesday we want to highlight an article written by AEO Board Member Nell Merlino. Nell is the Founder, President, and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, and she works tirelessly everyday to help women grow their small businesses into million dollar enterprises, through Count Me In’s Make Mine a Million $ Business Program. When she read the recent White House report on women: “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being,” which neglected to mention women-owned businesses, she felt …

Women’s Wednesday: The Success of Twyla Monti - A Client of AEO Member WEV

The Success of Twyla Monti, a client of AEO member WEV

By Katie Glerum

This week for Women’s Wednesday we are highlighting another successful female entrepreneur to emerge from an AEO member organization!

With help from Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) in Santa Barbara, CA, Twyla Monti opened Twyla K (http://www.twylak.com), a very successful boutique in Westlake Village, CA which sells “the HOTTEST fashions this side of Beverly Hills.” Twyla K persevered through the recent economic downturns, even continuing to donate to local charities, …

Women’s Wednesday: Becky’s Pet Care - The Success Story of a Woman-Owned Small Business

Last Wednesday I wrote about how creating your own hours can be an empowering and enticing option for entrepreneurs. This week, I spoke with Becky O’Neil, a single mother and the president and founder of Becky’s Pet Care Inc, who did exactly that. Becky began as a self taught entrepreneur. With little knowledge or experience about business, Becky went online, taught herself some basics, and jumped right in.

As she was beginning this process she saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a class by the Community Business …

I view entrepreneurship as an escape from poverty and a means of creating better lives for everyone involved. Because low income individuals may not have the resources or cultural capital to finance large scale businesses, I focus my attention on smaller businesses. Armed with this perspective, I had the privilege of attending the 2011 State of Entrepreneurship Address.

It was at this event that I became aware of a movement to specifically promote businesses that …